To be precise, I'm not interested in politicians private life, gossip or that sort of things. More about1. Are any of your politicians being convicted for fraud, stealing or else, and if yes, are them still there?2. Have any of your politicians being found out using the public money for their own personal luxury holidays, and if yes what happened next?3. Do your hospitals have enough funds to be able to have the necessary equipment for the medical tests they might need?4. What about architectural barriers, you know those that make the life of a person in a wheelchair a nightmare? Is your town a place where a person in a wheelchair could move around on his own?5. Back to politicians, have any of them being accused of something but never trialed because all politicians protect each other by doing in a hurry a new law? 6. How people feel about the jails and conditions of them? Here from time to time they say there's too much people in there costing too much to the public (there's in program a new pardon in these days to have a lot of people out free - they did it a few years back and working in a newspaper kiosk I well remember seeing in the papers after very few days titles like : increase of robberies and stuff) and living in bad conditions because the cells are too little (that's what they say, but I think if they were put to work it would help the expense-problem, and being there it's a punishment for having done something bad, not an holiday - as long as human rights are guaranteed, I'm not thinking anything bad).

Sorry to bring up a serious subject but I'm pretty curious, so if anyone would share their thoughts...

Crys, the questions you're asking having nothing to do with your question of how does anyone feel about their country and government.For all the faults and problems we have - and I was mentally ticking off all the questions with a 'yes', I still think the good outweighs the bad. It's just that the media only concentrate on the negative and sensational aspects that portray systems / countries in a bad light.And I really don't want to discuss politics.

Going to my school was an education in itself. Which is not to be confused with actually getting an education (Schultz)

Conforumist wrote:As for the country; we simply the best, bar none. (I say that humbly )

the reason why I brought this up is because I was curious if politicians were the same everywhere. Of course there are good ones and bad ones, they are people, but I mean something more. there are a few here that went to jail for fraud but never resigned and after a few months they got out and resumed their old post keeping on where they left, and even complaining that they didn't get newspapers in jail, one of them said he entered politics to protect himself, and was just happy and satisfied that the accuse of helping the mafia was dropped.More than half of the whole of them has at least being accused of things like stealing public money, evading taxes, or being affiliated to one mafia or another, but say 'I'm innocent so I will never leave my place', and in a few cases they themselves have done laws that allowed them or their associates to escape trial. Now, some of them have made their lawyers fellow politicians, so those lawyers will use in trials the laws that they themselves have contributed to make, and in an interview one of those lawyers simply said : to ask me that it means you think I'm not in good-faith, and that's offensive to me, looking at the journalist as if he was the bad guy.And a lot of those things, that I unfortunately see every day on newspapers, that little that I read them. That's all, but maybe I should have titled it 'how is your government' , don't know if I can do it now

You've got to wonder about the motives of someone who wants to be a politician. I suppose there are people who get into it almost by accident - they are trying to solve an injustice and they end up getting more involved - but really!

There's a very good and somewhat old (1939) James Stewart film called Mr Smith Goes To Washington that pretty much sums up politicians. It's really rather cynical, but also quite realistic at the same time.

“Men never commit evil so fully and joyfully as when they do it for religious convictions.” – Blaise Pascal

Our government certainly has it's ups and downs. I'm so proud of our current president! But up or down, I take being able to vote for the president, all the way down to the local school board very seriously. If things do or don't turn out the way I hoped I know that I did my part and know that I always have an opportunity to do my part to change things, from voting to petitions. I feel very lucky to have been born in this country and I would not choose to live anywhere else in the world.

“It is the peculiar nature of the world to go on spinning no matter what sort of heartbreak is happening.”― Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees:

Alas, corruption and favoring of the elite over the masses is a fixture of just about every kind of government, from democracies to dictatorships. People who become politicians are drawn to power, and, once in, generally try to do whatever they can to gain power or wealth or both.

In the U.S., while state governments have traditionally been rife with legislators taking bribes from vested interests, this isn't as big a problem at the federal Congressional level. There, instead of giving money to enrich legislators' own pockets, lobbyists give money to support their re-election efforts. This turns the legislators into slaves of the lobbyists, and since big corporations have the most money to slog around, the whole system works for these multinationals instead of for the people. (Also, quite often, legislators receive all kinds of legal perks from lobbyists, such as free 'fact finding' junkets, speaking opportunities, etc., and then once the legislator leaves office they get a high paying job with these corporations).

The only solution to all this is ban private funding of all elections and have all elections be publicly funded or self-financed. But given that billions will be spent in this election cycle and that Americans distrust both politicians and the government, it's unlikely that public funded campaigns will come to pass.